Dunkirk Town Board chooses MRB Group

February 10, 2014

The Dunkirk Town Board has made a decision on which company it will work with on the town's comprehensive plan.

At a special meeting held last week, Dunkirk Town Planning Committee Chair-person Vincent Vecchiarella presented a letter to the board on his recommendation of a consultant for comprehensive plan services.

In the letter, he strongly recommended MRB Group, which told the planning board it felt it could enhance the identification of the town and believed in conquering and dividing.

Article Photos

OBSERVER Photo by Jasmine WillisTown of Dunkirk Super-visor Richard Purol be-gins a town board meeting to make a decision on the town’s comprehensive plan.

MRB Group impressed the town board and planning board with its understanding of the town and what Dunkirk's needs are.

Supervisor Richard Purol said he was very impressed with MRB Group.

"I was very impressed with them and how they handled themselves," he said. "They had good ideas and their presentation grabbed me; their conquering presentation alone struck me."

Dunkirk Town Planning Board member Jay Warren said both Wendel and MRB Group are great quality companies.

"They (MRB Group) are very professional and everyone who has worked with them in the past has been very pleased," he said.

The MRB Group has agreed to do the town comprehensive plan for $39,500.

Warren said he was impressed with the MRB Group talking about the history of Dunkirk and getting to know the town.

Vecchiarella said the MRB Group will work with them.

"They emphasized that they will work with us to make sure that they provide all the support we need throughout this entire process," he said. "They have a strategy for their goals and will work with us."

Vecchiarella said a comprehensive plan is a collaborative community effort that defines a long-term vision for the community.

"The goal of the comprehensive plan is to maintain or improve the overall quality of life for the town of Dunkirk residents," he said.

The scope of work outlined by Vecchiarella goes into detail about what is expected of MRB Group to achieve for the town of Dunkirk.

"They will go out into the community and find out from the community what they want for their town," Warren said. "They help improve the quality of life, get support from the community for projects, and believe the community is a whole."

Vecchiarella said MRB Group will start work immediately, and by April will plan on having a website up and running with all the specifics of the plan.

"I am very impressed they will develop and maintain a website for us which will make residents aware of the plan," he said. "Everything will be there; a timeline will be made on specific activities and meetings."

Vecchiarella said the first step is to talk with them and get ready by early March.

"We are going to talk about surveys," he said. "It is very important for the community to be involved and make their ideas for the town expressed; we need input from the community."

A survey will be mailed to the Dunkirk Town residents asking them what they would like to see happened in their community. It is very important each resident fills out the survey and mails it in.

Purol said the biggest thing the town can do now is "not drop the ball."

"We need to stress the importance of the comprehensive plan," he said. "Residents need to take a few minutes to fill these surveys out and send them back; they need to see what the town gets developed as."

"March will be the formal kickoff," Vecchiarella said. "We will find a vehicle for communication with the MRB Group."

Vecchiarella said the next step will be to find a good meeting place for the boards and MRB Group to get to work.